Daily Archives: August 13, 2016

A crew member of a commercial fishing boat off the coast of Vancouver Island was hoisted to safety Thursday after experiencing a medical issue, rescuers say. A search and rescue crew from the 442 rescue squadron was called into action about 165 nautical miles southwest of Ucluelet. A Cormorant helicopter and Buffalo aircraft responded, and a rescue technician was lowed onto the deck of the boat to assist the crew member. He was then hoisted to the helicopter hovering above and flown to Victoria General Hospital for treatment of the unspecified medical issue, according to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre. Video taken by rescue crews shows a birds-eye-view of the operation as the victim is hoisted up to the helicopter. Watch the video here 17:52

Deadliest Catch has been a mainstay of the Discovery Channel for over ten years. It shows the working conditions of crabbers in the North Pacific who fish for king crab and snow crab out of ports like Dutch Harbor and St. Paul. Now the show is coming to the Pacific Northwest. Discovery Channel is now launching a spinoff titled Deadliest Catch – Dungeon Cove. It’s based in Newport, Oregon and it will follow the commercial dungeness crab fishery (even though there is no Dungeon Cove). There has been discussion in the past few years or so about just how deadly is the “Deadliest Catch,” and perhaps this debate was the reasoning behind this spinoff. The Northwest dungeness commercial- crab fishery, however, is still seeing high rates of injury and death compared to other fisheries in the United States. The Northwest coast is particularly rough, and dungeness crab are commercially fished in the winter (similar to Alaska commercial crab seasons) when the weather is at its worst. Read the story here 13:03

Sweden is digging in on a proposal to ban imports of live lobsters into the European Union after a rebuke from American scientists, and the issue could go all the way to the World Trade Organization. Sweden asked the European Union to bar imports of live American lobsters into the bloc earlier this year after 32 American lobsters were found in Swedish waters. The U.S. government then told the European Commission that the proposal isn’t supported by science, and American and Canadian scientists issued reports calling the Swedish claim into question. Lobstermen in America and Canada, which together export $200 million worth of lobster to European markets each year, are hopeful that Sweden’s call for a ban eventually amounts to nothing. “I haven’t taken my Swedish engine out of my boat yet,” said Gerry Cushman, a Port Clyde lobsterman. “I’d like to see lobsters stay open throughout the world everywhere.” 11:25

The deep waters off the coast of California could become home to the country’s largest offshore wind energy project and a test case for a technology that is still in its infancy. The 765-megawatt project, proposed by Seattle-based Trident Winds, would sit about 25 miles off California’s central coast, near the town of Cambria. If built, it will be larger than the 630-megawatt London Array off the coast of Kent, – the world’s largest working offshore wind farm that began operating in 2013. To win government approval, Trident will have to prepare a lengthy report to investigate the potential environmental impact of its project. California’s coast is a major migration route for several whale species, and the underwater structures of the floating wind turbines could pose an entanglement risk. The Trident project calls for mounting 100 turbines on floating foundations in water that’s roughly half a mile deep. Read the rest here 09:29

On summer break, the alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m., and two Key West High School soon-to-be sophomores open their eyes. Cousins Demi Stiglitz and Peder Bidonne, both 15, brush their teeth, put on a little deodorant and climb into dad Richie Stiglitz’s truck. From there, they sleep for the 30-minute ride to Marathon from their Sugarloaf house, hope dad stops for quick breakfast from The Stuffed Pig, and by 5:30 a.m. they are fishing. “We’ve been on-and-popping since we were 12 years old,” said Demi, while sitting at the dinner table covered in fresh fried grouper after a long day on the boat. “Straight saving money.” The two are saving their money from their 500 lobster traps and 800 crab traps to buy their own boat. Read the rest here 09:07

The Coast Guard conducted a medevac of a man experiencing chest pains 20 miles off the Manzanita coast on a commercial fishing vessel Friday morning. The 59-year old man was alert and responsive when he was transferred to Warrenton emergency medical services at Coast Guard Sector Columbia River in Warrenton by an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew. Sector Columbia River Command Center received a VHF-FM radio call from the captain of the commercial fishing vessel Karen, homeported in Tillamook, requesting medical help for a crewmember. The aircrew launched at 10:44 a.m., and returned to base for the transfer at 12:16 p.m. The man was transported to Columbia Memorial Hospital by EMS. Link 08:55

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

Maryland’s crab harvest last year led the nation. That’s according to figures released Wednesday by the National Marine Fisheries Service. http://www.wbal.com/article/94116/2/template-story/MDs-Crab-Harvest-Leads-Nation Read More »